Nassau County Moves To Opt Out Of Marijuana Sales

Nassau County Laura Curran on Wednesday announced support for opting the county out of retail marijuana should lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo agree to a program this year.

Nassau County would be the largest municipality so far to move toward not allowing retail sales even as the legislation remains up in the air in Albany.

“Local governments have a right to make a decision,” Cuomo said during a stop in Suffolk County on Wednesday.

“Different regions have different situations. Long Island is one situation, Buffalo is another situation. I believe in giving local governments the right to make the decision.”

Cuomo’s proposal allows local governments to opt out of marijuana sales, which he said was key to giving the legislation some flexibility for local elected officials.

“Frankly, to me, that’s one of the most appealing pieces of the legislation is that it would leave it to the localities to make the decision rather than some bureaucrats in Albany saying this is what we think you should do,” he said.

Curran’s announcement was praised by Smart Approaches To Marijuana, a group that is opposed to retail marijuana sale legalization.

“Commercial pot isn’t a boon for tax revenue or those seeking social justice. It just creates another predatory industry targeting minority and low-income communities to enrich Pharma, Big Tobacco and Wall Street investors,” the group said in a statement.

This entry was posted by Nick Reisman on March 13, 2019 at 2:57 pm, and is filed under Andrew Cuomo. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.